Abstract: A hand-held thermal wire stripper has two arms arranged in a pincer-like configuration, whereby the arms diverge at one end and converge at the other end. The divergent ends of the arms are exposed and a heatable blade is positioned on each divergent end such that the two blades oppose each other across a gap that receives a wire to be stripped. The convergent ends of the arms are housed in a casing that is gripped by the operator of the wire stripper. The casing is formed from an electrostatically dissipative material that conducts electrostatic charges to ground before such charges reach a level sufficient to shock the operator or damage sensitive electrical components coming into contact therewith.

Abstract: A modular microstrip transmission line circuit arrangement wherein each pair of modules includes: A microstrip circuit having a dielectric substrate with strip conductor circuitry formed on one side and a ground plane formed on the other side; and a support structure, the ground plane being affixed to a surface of the support structure. A portion of the ground plane of each module protrudes from an end of its support structure. A conductive gasket is disposed between the pair of modules beneath the protruding portions of the ground planes. A second resilient gasket is disposed between the conductive gasket and a base to force the conductive gasket against the protruding portions of the ground planes when the modules are fastened to the base, such conductive gasket providing a continuous ground plane between the pair of modules. A conductive strip is bonded to the ends of adjacent strip conductors to complete the electrical circuit between the pair of modules.